Regulation 16: Notification of death of service user
Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/3112)
Last verified by Verivius on 19 May 2026. Next review due 17 Aug 2026.
Plain British summary
When a service user dies while services are being provided, or where the death may have resulted from the regulated activity, you have to notify CQC without delay. For NHS bodies, local authorities exercising public health functions, and primary medical service providers, the duty is narrower and excludes deaths attributable to the natural course of illness; it also disapplies where the death has been reported to NHS England. The notification has to describe the circumstances of the death.
Full text on legislation.gov.uk. Treat quotes on this page as targeted excerpts, not as a substitute for the regulation.
Targeted verbatim quotes (3)
“Except where paragraph (2) applies, the registered person must notify the Commission without delay of the death of a service user (a) whilst services were being provided in the carrying on of a regulated activity, or (b) which has, or may have, resulted from the carrying on of a regulated activity.”
Reg 16(1) (the headline duty)
“Notification of the death of a service user must include a description of the circumstances of the death.”
Reg 16(3): what the notification must contain
“This regulation does not apply where regulation 17 applies.”
Reg 16(5): overlap with Reg 17
What Verivius does for you
Notifiable event auto-spawn
Incidents flagged with a death outcome trigger a notifiable event under this regulation, linked back to the incident record. The notifications register shows the filing state and audit trail.
What this regulation does NOT say
Industry-folklore claims that are commonly attributed to this regulation but do not appear in the primary source.
"Without delay" means within a specific number of hours or days.
The regulation says "without delay" but does not quantify it. CQC enforcement guidance treats it as "as soon as the registered person becomes aware". Verivius records the awareness timestamp and the notification timestamp separately so a tenant can demonstrate the gap.